March 2011 Romania Match
Match Setting After a 4-month break, the UEFA Euro Championship Qualifiers returns to action. Bosnia and Herzegovina will try to hold on to the second place in group D they currently have. Last match for the Bosnians was a 3-1 defeat against Mexico in USA, whlist, Romania´s last match was a 3-2 win against Cyprus, both games were played in February. Squad The squad was announced on February 3rd and consisted of 23 players, most of which play abroad with the exception of Edin Visca and Haris Handzic, who both play in the Adriatic Superleague. It consisted on 3 GK, 5 Defensemen, 12 Midfielders and 3 Strikers. Hoffenheim and Lech, both with 2 players, were the most represented teams. While the German Bundesliga, was the most represented league with 5 players. (Jasmin Sudic was the only player set to debut and have their first international cap if they got into the field. The squad list is after the break: 23-man Squad Missing Players Zvjezdan Misimovic once again missed a call-up because of injury. Achilles Tendonitis will have him out for 3 weeks. Captain Emir Spahic came down injured with a stage two sprained ankle. 2 weeks minimum. Kenan Hasagic had a concussion and missed the game, but not much game time for his club. Ognjen Vranjes had a sports hernia discovered, he will be out for 2 weeks. Tactics Due to the injuries, a little name variation will occur, as opposite to what has Mikulic been showing lately. Besic will replace captain Spahic, while Begovic will replace Hasagic. The only non injury related change is Husejinovic over Blatnjak due to the kid's excellent performances in the Bundesliga. Pandza will be a starter once again, due to the injury of Vranjes. The starting squad and their roles was as follow. Result and Analysis The game resulted in a 2-2 tie. Analysis Mikulic called it the best match he had ever coached for Bosnia and Herzegovina, until the 84th minute. And it was indeed a great match, with awesome rythm and danger in both areas. It all started perfectly for the Bosnians as they pressed hard in the opponent's court, seizing a great goal from Sejad Salihovic in the 10th minute. Romania fought back after the goal, and equalised the match in terms of shots. They finally found their prize in minute 22 with a perfect free kick from Razvan Rat. The first half came to a close, with both teams very balanced in their offensive prowess. The second half kicked off the same as the first with Bosnia and Herzegovina pushing hard for a goal. They found it at the 56th minute, in the feet of their top goalscorer and best player Edin Dzeko who took a beautiful pass from Boris Pandza, rounded the keeper, and scored with the goal at will. The game then became frictionated, as the Bosnians defended their lead, but disaster stroke, when at the fatidic 84th minute, Adrian Mutu seized a rebound to the middle from keeper Asmir Begovic. On a side note, Jasmin Sudic made his first international cap. Important Stats Possession % = 53-47 Passes Completed % = 79-78 Shots 15-17 Clear Cut Chances 1-0 Long Shots = 9-11 Individual Performances Romania's Adrian Mutu was the man of the match, after scoring the game tying goal. Despite his mistake, leading to Romania's tying goal, Asmir Begovic was the best of the pitch for Bosnia and Herzegovina. He stopped several shots from distance with great security, and was always a sure bet catching the several Romanian crosses. He was rated at 7.7 Edin Dzeko and Vedad Ibisevic complete the podium with a shared third place. Ibisevic was a great team player, getting teammates open and got an assist, while Dzeko, scored his 6th goal in the Qualifiers. Both got a 7.2.